The dental restoration of a partially or wholly edentulous patient with artificial dentition is typically done in two stages. In the first stage, an incision is made through the gingiva to expose the underlying bone. An artificial tooth root, in the form of a dental implant, is placed in the jawbone for integration. The dental implant generally includes a threaded bore to receive a retaining screw holding mating components therein. During the first stage, the gum tissue overlying the implant is sutured and heals as the osseointegration process continues.
Once the osseointegration process is complete, the second stage is initiated. Here, the gum tissue is re-opened to expose the end of the dental implant. A healing component or healing abutment is fastened to the exposed end of the dental implant to allow the gum tissue to heal therearound. Preferably, the gum tissue heals such that the aperture that remains generally approximates the size and contour of the aperture that existed around the natural tooth that is being replaced. To accomplish this, the healing abutment attached to the exposed end of the dental implant preferably has a similar general contour as the gingival portion of the natural tooth being replaced. It should be noted that the healing abutment can be placed on the implant immediately after the implant has been installed and before osseointegration.
To develop a custom-abutment or tooth prosthesis, the location and orientation of the dental implant relative to adjacent teeth has been captured through the use of impression copings. While impression copings have been used in the past, modern dentistry has started to rely on scans of the mouth. The scans produce scan data that is typically analyzed to develop virtual three-dimensional models of the mouth, which is used in the production of the custom-abutment.